November 1916 - Phantom Train of Doom. One of the strongest outings in the series (in my opinion), with action, intrigue, a great cast of characters — on both sides of the battles — and of course the stellar score by Joel McNeely.

Agreed! Phantom Train is one of those episodes in the series that stands out as "feature film" quality! I especially love the scenes between Indy, Remy and Von Lettow in the second half of the movie (such well-written dialogue by Frank Darabont)! We witness the seed of Indy's character arc in Oganga being planted with the military 'indoctrination' of Von Lettow: "A soldier's first duty is to obey orders" - words he would find himself eating in the next episode ...

Nice that Indy got to meet Frederick Selous again, especially considering that he'd be killed in action just 2 months later. The caption for the photo below is, "SELOUS IN EAST AFRICA, SHORTLY BEFORE HE WAS KILLED", so it's pretty close to what he would've looked like in November 1916:

"Phantom Train" has always been my favourite episode. Being interested in the East African campaign even before the series began, it was a real treat for me when it aired. The story is a fantasy, for sure, but an exciting one!

Around 2003, I plotted out Indy’s entire route for this episode and the perfect time to share is here & now. (Wish I’d had more free time in November ‘cuz I would’ve posted the route for “Phantom Train”, too. )

Determining the starting point:
According to dialogue, the guns are needed for the planned attack on Tabora and, in the next chapter, Indy says that he must bring them to Lake Tanganyika. The Belgian force had been divided in two for the advance on Tabora so this puts Indy in the Brigade Sud (South) who captured Kigoma & Ujiji. In reality, the Battle of Tabora was 3 months earlier (08-19 September 1916) so we have to shift the calendar and pretend that this hasn’t happened yet.

28 Nov - Belgians capture Kigoma, the major German port on Lake Tanganyika & railhead to Tabora. (Actual date: 28 Jul 1916)
01 Dec - Belgians march from Kigoma to Ujiji. (10 km / 6 miles)--- Episode begins ---
02 Dec - Indy leads successful assault at Ujiji. (Actual date: 02 or 05 Aug 1916 - sources differ)
- Indy is promoted to captain.
03 Dec - His company marches back to Kigoma.
- Embarks from Kigoma on a steamer across Lake Tanganyika.
- Indy starts writing another letter to T.E. Lawrence.*
- Arrives in the Belgian Congo at Albertville.
04 Dec - By train from Albertville to end of the line in Kabalo. (Railway completed in 1915)
05 Dec - By boat on the Lualaba River from Kabalo downstream to Kongolo.
06 Dec - By train from Kongolo to Kindu. (Railway completed in 1910)

*Date confirmed by dialogue

As a matter of interest, Ujiji is the site where Burton & Speke first saw Lake Tanganyika and, more famously, where H.M. Stanley uttered the immortal words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”

My new computer can’t play the interactive features on the Young Indy DVDs and I can’t remember if a map was shown in the Oganga video game. Will have to fire up my old one and check because it would fun to compare.

Stoo, as a fan, I must admire your dedication in painstakingly documenting Indy's voyage in Oganga. These graphics are just simply awesome (and I especially love how they resemble the Map montages from the film series)! I would totally love to see a Phantom Train map too!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stoo

Nice that Indy got to meet Frederick Selous again, especially considering that he'd be killed in action just 2 months later. The caption for the photo below is, "SELOUS IN EAST AFRICA, SHORTLY BEFORE HE WAS KILLED", so it's pretty close to what he would've looked like in November 1916:

Sorry, I'm a little bit late with this since we are already out of November, but I've been curious as to whether or not there was an actual "Old and the Bold" division serving in the East African campaign (as depicted in Phantom Train)? If so, was Selous part of it? My searches on google have not procured me much results.

*Bobangui was Barthélemy Boganda's birthplace so some leeway must be given to explain why they were in that area. (Major Boucher was lost and Indy eventually realized it.) Whatever route was taken to get near Bobangui, it would have gone through the German territory of Neukamerun. Perhaps Boucher had a faulty compass because they were completely off course!

**Schweitzer's hospital is shown as being on the starboard side of the boat when it would've been on the port side.

We're in the thick of my favourite period of the series so I'm on it like jam on toast. Been working on motion graphics of these maps (& more). Stay tuned!

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingace1939

Stoo, as a fan, I must admire your dedication in painstakingly documenting Indy's voyage in Oganga. These graphics are just simply awesome (and I especially love how they resemble the Map montages from the film series)! I would totally love to see a Phantom Train map too!

Sorry, I'm a little bit late with this since we are already out of November, but I've been curious as to whether or not there was an actual "Old and the Bold" division serving in the East African campaign (as depicted in Phantom Train)? If so, was Selous part of it? My searches on google have not procured me much results.

Thanks, Ace. I tried to match the movies' maps as much as possible (and "Phantom Train" is in progress).

Indeed, the "Old & the Bold" did exist. They were the 25th Royal Fusiliers and, yes, Selous was one of their captains. (You should watch the documentaries on the DVD!)

Contrary to popular belief, the bulk of "Hawkmen" does NOT take place in February! The calendar in Indy's bunk is the tell-tale clue because it's clearly March (the previous month ends on the 28th). His assignment is for '2 weeks' and his last mission is on the 13th, which means he probably arrived on 27 Feb. Notice that the direction of Indy's pencil strokes seem to indicate this precisely.

Contrary to popular belief, the bulk of "Hawkmen" does NOT take place in February! The calendar in Indy's bunk is the tell-tale clue because it's clearly March (the previous month ends on the 28th). His assignment is for '2 weeks' and his last mission is on the 13th, which means he probably arrived on 27 Feb. Notice that the direction of Indy's pencil strokes seem to indicate this precisely.

Strangely though, unless they used a different calendar, March 1, 1917 was a Thursday. March 13th was a Tuesday. In 1917 the only Fridays the 13th were in April and July.

Glad that you're still around, Phil.

Indeed, they didn't use a 1917 calendar...but that's the way of the Indy World so we have to give some leeway.

Re: Friday the 13th.
As far as I'm aware, France & several other European countries start their calendar weeks on Mondays (putting the TV show's March 13th as a Saturday) but it seems that Indy has a N.American calendar with the week starting on Sundays (putting March 13th on a Friday). The reason being that the camera zooms in on the 13th and dissolves into his face, conveying that date as a bad omen.

In my mind, Indy is probably occupying the bunk of his predecessor and marking a calendar brought from the States by the guy who died.

I'm a few months late with this I know. Just wanted to say "thanks" for sharing with this informative link with us. I look forward to reading it in full detail, soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stoo

Indeed, the "Old & the Bold" did exist. They were the 25th Royal Fusiliers and, yes, Selous was one of their captains. (You should watch the documentaries on the DVD!)

Unfortunately, I don't actually have the DVD's but they are something I want to invest in for sure when I have disposable income of my own (third year university student here, with a tight budget). My introduction to Young Indy came from the wonderful, free viewing medium called "YouTube"!

Indy celebrated his 18th birthday in Petrograd one hundred years ago today--or did he?

Russia was still using the Julian calendar in 1917, so if he was celebrating his birthday on "July 1" in Petrograd, it was already July 14 in most of the rest of the world (including the United States, where he was born).

Petrograd, July 1917 (a.k.a. part 2 of Chapter 13: Adventures in the Secret Service)

I find this episode to be a bit of a snoozer, but with some highlights. Indy is at the cusp of a great historical event rather than just meeting with notable figures during their down time, there are educational insights into movements that shaped the 20th Century, and there's a big climactic finish.

This is also one of two episodes (along with German East Africa 1916) where I feel that the loss of the George Hall bookends really detracts from the potential impact of the story, rather than the more common laughs at Old Indy's expense.

Ah, Prague. The film crew finally gets to stop pretending they're using the city as a stand-in for everywhere else in Europe.

I think this episode is hailed as one of the low points of the series. It's true that Shooblegrueber trying to hook up a phone is not as exciting as Indy swinging on ropes and finding lost artefacts, but as a comedy piece it's... okay, passable. I adore Tim McInnerny though.

...

Back on hiatus until October, when the timeline sorts itself out in Palestine with one of the top episodes in terms of script, cinematography, performances, score, and action.